A grizzly bear pays a visit to Peter Rowbottom's property in Malakwa in 2018. Rowbottom said he's counted a dozen grizzlies using his property as a thoroughfare to get to a cornfield to bulk up for the winter.
Image Credit: Peter Rowbottom
October 17, 2019 - 10:30 AM
With a river full of salmon on one side, and swaths of corn growing on the other, a Shuswap resident has seen his property become a popular thoroughfare for grizzly bears.
Malakwa resident Peter Rowbottom has counted a dozen grizzly bears on his property this year and said there are probably more.
After 17-years of living on the three-acre property, Rowbottom said the grizzlies started appearing a few years ago after a 25-acre cornfield was planted nearby.
With the river on one side and the cornfield on the other, the grizzlies have found a reliable source of food.
Last year he had grizzlies pass through his property during the day on a daily basis for a two month period. This year they returned when it was dark.
While daily visits by grizzly bears may sound terrifying to some, Rowbottom isn't too fazed by all the bears cutting through his yard.
"Of course you have to be careful,” Rowbottom said. “But (grizzly bears) have a one-track mind, and their mind is, get into that cornfield and eat as much corn as they can before hibernation time."
Rowbottom said the grizzlies are “big and fat” and not interested in humans.
After a lifetime working in the forestry industry Rowbottom says he's using common sense.
“I know enough not to go out in the dark,” he said.
Rowbottom has had a couple of encounters where he's been surprised by the bears and come 30 to 40 feet from the grizzlies.
“Your heart starts beating when something like that happens,” he said.
At the moment Rowbottom is just waiting for the cold to come and the grizzlies to go into hibernation.
Rowbottom set up nighttime cameras capturing the bears in action.
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